One of the first Bills introduced to the UK Parliament by the coalition government formed in May 2010, which was enacted in February 2011, very substantially changed the procedures for redistributing constituencies for election to the House of Commons, as well as reducing the number of Members of Parliament (MPs). For the preceding six decades, organic criteria dominated over arithmetic considerations in the redistribution (the UK term for redistricting) process: MPs were to be elected to represent distinct communities, and electoral equality was secondary to that goal. The 2011 Act reversed that situation: the redistribution that commenced in March 2011 has electoral equality as its predominant criterion—all constituencies must have an electorate within 5 percentage points of the national quota (76,641 registered electors). This article reviews that change and the issues—such as continuity of representation—which arise from it.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BalinskiM., JohnstonR.J., McLeanI., YoungP.2010. Drawing a New Constituency Map for the United Kingdom: The Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill, 2010London: The British Academy.
2.
BorisyukG., JohnstonR.J., RallingsC., ThrasherM.2010. A Method for Measuring and Decomposing Electoral Bias for the Three-Party Case, Illustrated by the British Case. Electoral Studies, 29:733–745.
3.
BorisyukG., RallingsC., ThrasherM., JohnstonR.J.2011. Electoral Bias in 2010: Evaluating Its Extent in a Three-Party System. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 21:279–294.
4.
ButlerD.1955. The Redistribution of Seats. Public Administration, 33:125–147.
5.
ButlerD.1963. The Electoral System in Britain since, 1918Oxford: The Clarendon Press.
6.
ButlerD., McLeanI.1996. The Redrawing of Parliamentary Boundaries in Britain. McLeanI., ButlerD.Fixing the Boundaries: Defining and Redefining Single-Member Electoral Districts. Aldershot: Dartmouth Publishing, 1–38.
7.
CurticeJ.2010. So What Went Wrong with the Electoral System? The 2010 Election Result and the Debate about Electoral Reform. Parliamentary Affairs, 63:623–638.
8.
CurticeJ., FisherS., FordR.2010. An Analysis of the Results. KavanaghD., CowleyP.The British General Election of 2010. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 385–426.
9.
Electoral Commission. 2010. The Completeness and Accuracy of Electoral Registers in Great Britain. London: The Electoral Commission.
10.
GrofmanB., KingG.2007. The Future of Partisan Symmetry as a Judicial Test for Partisan Gerrymandering after LULAC v. Perry. Election Law Journal, 6:2–35.
11.
JamesT.S.2011. Fewer Costs, More Votes? United Kingdom Innovations in Election Administration 2000–2007 and the Effect on Voter Turnout. Election Law Journal, 10:37–52.
12.
Jenkins, Lord. 1998. The Report of the Independent Commission on the Voting System. London: HMSO, Cm, 4090-I.
13.
JohnstonR.J., McLeanI., PattieC.J., RossiterD.J.2009. Can the Boundary Commissions Help the Conservative Party? Constituency Size and Electoral Bias in the United Kingdom. Political Quarterly, 80:479–494.
14.
JohnstonR.J., PattieC.J.2011. Parties and Crossbenchers Voting in the Post-2010 House of Lords: The Example of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill. British Politics, 6:430–452.
15.
JohnstonR.J., PattieC.J., DorlingD., RossiterD.J.2001. From Votes to Seats: the Operation of the UK Electoral System since, 1945Manchester: Manchester University Press.
16.
JohnstonR.J., PattieC.J., RossiterD.J.2008. Electoral Distortion Despite Redistricting by Independent Commissions: The British Case. 1950–2005HandleyL., GrofmanB.Redistricting in Comparative Perspective. New York: Oxford University Press, 205–224.
17.
LeyenaarM., HazanR.Y.2011. Reconceptualising Electoral Reform. West European Politics, 34:437–455.
18.
LijphartA.1994. Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies, 1945–1990. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
19.
McLeanI., MortimoreR.1992. Apportionment and the Boundary Commission for England. Electoral Studies, 11:293–309.
20.
PattieC.J., JohnstonR.J.2011. The Electoral Impact of the 2009 MPs' Expenses Scandal. Political Studies(forthcoming).
21.
PiletJ.-B., BolD.2011. Party Preferences and Electoral Reform: How Time in Government Affects the Likelihood of Supporting Electoral ChangeWest European Politics, 35:568–586.
22.
RaeD.W.Jr.1971. The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws, second. New Haven CT: Yale University Press.
23.
RenwickA.2010. The Politics of Electoral Reform: Changing the Rules of Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24.
RenwickA.2011. Electoral Reform in Europe Since. 1945. West European Politics, 34:456–477.
25.
RossiterD.J., JohnstonR.J., PattieC.J.1999. The Boundary Commissions: Redrawing the UK's Map of Parliamentary Constituencies. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
26.
SandersD., ClarkeH.D., StewartM.C., WhiteleyP.2011. Simulating the Effects of the Alternative Vote in the 2010 UK General Election. Parliamentary Affairs, 64:5–23.
27.
SeymourC.1915. Electoral Reform in England and Wales: The Development and Operation of the Parliamentary Franchise, 1832–1885New Haven CT: Yale University Press.
28.
ShugartM.S., WattenbergM.P.2001. Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds?Oxford: Oxford University Press.
29.
TyrieA.2004. Pruning the Politicians: the Case for a Smaller House of Commons. London: Conservative Mainstream.
